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Sunrise

I was able to squeeze in a little photo editing on some bikes yesterday in between editing engagement photos and working on some design projects. Good stuff fo sho. I spent a fair amount of time on that Harley image to get it looking just how I wanted. Real sexy stuff. It makes me realize I need some chrome or gloss paint on my bike.

Last weekend Nancy and I decided to get up early and head over to the lake to test out some neutral density filters that I recently acquired. I wanted to see about getting a sunrise image with the lake, some rocky foreground and some kind of a pier (or something in the water) all in a shot. I knew where to go, had an idea of what time to get up and leave and I had all the tools I would need. The only problem was that I just had never done this before.

It wasn’t hard or anything it’s more that I didn’t realize just how bright and overpowering the sun would be at 5:10 am with some slight cloud cover. It was rough but I overcame. I quickly realized that I wouldn’t be able to get my shutter speed as low as I wanted so I started doing some filter stacking and eventually came out with some photos that were good. I don’t necessarily love them but I think they are good for a first attempt. Next time I will be trying for a sunset image. I’ll probably set up at the same place and try it all again.

Hit the jump to see some color and black & white shots. Click the photo to see a larger version.

Pigeons are nasty. I am aware of this. The poop, the skanky feathers, the general walking around all day in filth. It’s gross. But for some reason I LOVE looking at them. I don’t want to keep any or race them or something like that. I just really enjoy watching them walk about, giving weird looks to things and just be odd birds.

This photo came about as I was walking around the city one morning (same morning as the other two Friday Favorites photos) and while waiting for the sun to peek through some buildings I noticed this little gathering of pigeons on a slab of concrete by the river. I managed to snap a few photos of them before they became completely disinterested in anything I had to offer them, which was absolutely nothing, and we both moved on.

The reason I like this photo is the look on their faces. It’s not just the bird in the foreground that I love. The one right behind it is also looking towards me, and I like to believe it’s like a big brother and it’s watching the other guy’s back. Then dropping back further into the frame is some other bird not even aware of my presence and finally a fourth bird standing guard in the distant background. I look at this and see a group of friends that are just hanging out, giving passersby the stink-eye and then laughing about it afterward.

The photo was meant to be a quick snapshot and not even something I looked at ever again but it quickly became one of my favorite photos from this city.